Cobi Jones

Cobi Jones

Jones leaving Wellington International Airport in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Cobi N'Gai Jones
Date of birth	June 16, 1970
Place of birth	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1985–1988	Westlake Warriors
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1988–1991	UCLA Bruins
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1994–1995	Coventry City	24	(2)
1995–1996	Vasco da Gama	4	(1)
1996–2007	Los Angeles Galaxy	306	(70)
Total		334	(73)
National team
1992–2004	United States	164	(15)
Teams managed
2008	Los Angeles Galaxy (interim)
2008–2010	Los Angeles Galaxy (assistant)
Honours Representing  United States Winner CONCACAF Gold Cup 2002 Men's Football
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Cobi N'Gai Jones (born June 16, 1970) is an American^[1] former soccer player and is the analyst for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. He can also be seen on Fox Sports, BeIN Sports, and the Pac-12 Network.

As a player, he was a midfielder from 1994 until 2007, starting his career in England with Premier League club Coventry City, before playing for Brazilian side Vasco da Gama. He is one of a significant group of American national team stars who returned from overseas to aid the then new Major League Soccer in 1996, beginning an 11-year spell with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Jones is the all-time leader in caps for the United States national team and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Following retirement, he served as an assistant coach with the former club Galaxy for two seasons.

Youth

Jones grew up in Southern California. He played soccer with AYSO starting at age 5 in Westlake Village, California.^[2] After graduating from Westlake High School, Jones emerged as a talented player in college, making the UCLA soccer team as a non-scholarship player, ultimately becoming one of its most successful soccer-playing graduates. While attending UCLA, Jones was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, an international fraternity.^[3]

Club career

After playing in the 1994 World Cup held in the United States, Jones signed with English team Coventry City of the Premier League, where he spent one season. Jones trained with German club FC Köln of the Bundesliga before joining Brazilian club Vasco da Gama after impressive performances with the U.S. national team in the 1995 Copa America. After only a few months in Brazil, Jones signed with the new Los Angeles Galaxy franchise for Major League Soccer's inaugural season.

Jones's best year with the Galaxy came in 1998, where he was second in MLS with 32 points (19 goals and 13 assists), was named to the MLS Best XI, and was also named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year. In 2005, he became the last player in MLS to remain with his original team since 1996. Jones announced on March 19, 2007, that he would retire following the season. Jones played his last game with the Galaxy on October 21, 2007. The club retired his number 13 making it the first number retired in MLS history. Jones finished his Galaxy career with 306 appearances and 70 goals.

International career

Jones is currently the all-time leader of the United States in appearances, with 164 caps as of the end of 2004 (scoring 15 goals). He played for the team in the 1994, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups. He was named to the best XI at the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup and won with the national team at the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also represented his country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. After playing in the 1995 Copa America he also became a popular player in Latin America because the nickname used by an Argentine commentator to call him: "Escobillón" ("swab"), due to his bleached dreadlock hairstyle and the similar pronunciation of his name, Is Cobi Jones, and the word "escobillón".

U.S. national team appearances

^[4]

National Team	Year	Apps	Starts	Goals	Assists
United States
	1992	3	1	1	2
	1993	30	16	2	5
	1994	23	19	2	0
	1995	12	6	1	4
	1996	14	12	2	0
	1997	14	10	0	1
	1998	15	14	0	0
	1999	8	7	0	0
	2000	16	12	6	9
	2001	10	5	0	0
	2002	14	7	0	1
	2003	1	0	0	0
	2004	4	0	1	0
Total		164	109	15	22

U.S. national team goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	October 19, 1992	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Ivory Coast	2–1	5–1	1992 King Fahd Cup
2	March 23, 1993	San Salvador, El Salvador	El Salvador	2–1	2–2	Friendly
3	October 13, 1993	Washington, D.C.	Mexico	1–1	1–1	Friendly
4	January 15, 1994	Tempe, Arizona	Norway	2–1	2-1	Friendly
5	February 18, 1994	Miami, Florida	Bolivia	1–1	1–1	Friendly
6	June 11, 1995	Foxborough, Massachusetts	Nigeria	3–2	3-2	Friendly
7	May 26, 1995	New Britain, Connecticut	Scotland	2–1	2–1	Friendly
8	December 1, 1996	San Jose, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	1–2	1-2	Friendly
9	January 29, 2000	Coquimbo, Chile	Chile	2–1	2–1	Friendly
10	February 12, 2000	Miami, Florida	Haiti	3–0	3-0	2000 Gold Cup
11	February 16, 2000	Miami, Florida	Peru	1–0	1-0	2000 Gold Cup
12	June 3, 2000	Washington, D.C.	South Africa	1–0	4-0	2000 Nike U.S. Cup
13				2–0
14	November 15, 2000	Waterford, Barbados	Barbados	4–0	4–0	2002 World Cup qualifying
15	September 8, 2004	Panama City, Panama	Panama	1–1	1–1	2006 World Cup qualifying

Coaching career

On November 9, 2007, Jones was announced as an assistant coach with the Galaxy under Ruud Gullit. After Gullit's resignation on August 11, 2008, Jones served as the interim head coach until the Galaxy hired Jones's former U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena.

In January 2011, Jones left the Galaxy to serve as associate director of soccer with the New York Cosmos and was with the club through 2012.

Personal life

On September 12, 2009, Jones married longtime girlfriend, Kim Reese. Reese, a music consultant and former music executive at New Line Cinema, met Jones in 2003 and began dating him in 2004. The couple was married at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara in Carlsbad, California.^[5]

Cobi and Kim have two sons, Cayden and Cai.

On March 11, 2011, Cobi Jones was selected for induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.^[6]

Honors

United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup (1): 2002

Los Angeles Galaxy

• CONCACAF Champions' Cup Winner (1): 2000
• MLS Cup Winner (2): 2002, 2005
• MLS Supporters' Shield Winner (2): 1998, 2002
• U.S. Open Cup Winner (2): 2001, 2005
• Major League Soccer Western Conference Champions (5): 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005

Career statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
USA			League		Open Cup		League Cup		North America		Total
1996	Los Angeles Galaxy	Major League Soccer	28	7
1997			26	7					4	1
1998			24	19
1999			28	8					1
2000			25	7					3	1
2001			22	6
2002			19	3
2003			28	2					4
2004			23	0
2005			31	3
2006			27	4					2
2007			25	4
Total	USA		306	70
Career total			306	70					14	2

References

1. Staff. soccer athletes&f=false "Top Black Soccer Players Discuss The Growing Popularity Of Their Sport", Jet (magazine), July 23, 2001. Accessed March 17, 2012.
2. "AYSO Alum Cobi Jones Elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame". American Youth Soccer Organization. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
3. "Re-colonization at UCLA". Lambda Chi Alpha. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
4. "Cobi JOnes – U.S. Soccer Media Guide". 2013 USMNT Media Guide. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
5. L.A. Galaxy Soccer Star Cobi Jones Weds by Mark Dagostino at people.com, URL accessed October 3, 2009. Archived 10/03/09.
6. "Cobi Jones, Eddie Pope, and Earnie Stewart Elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame Class of 2011". Ussoccer.com. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2013-12-27.

External links

• Cobi Jones career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Cobi Jones Biography at Los Angeles Galaxy official site (English)